Sustaining a Safe and Successful Hotel Kitchen

Cleanliness in a hotel is held to a very high standard. Though most guests
do not get the chance to step inside a hotel kitchen, this does not mean
that it shouldn’t be held to this same standard as other areas of
the property. Keeping unseen areas of the hotel clean, safe, and sanitary
is just as important, and one of these key areas is a hotel’s kitchen
exhaust system.

In order for a kitchen to remain in compliance with the International Fire
Code, the kitchen exhaust system must be cleaned regularly by a professional.
The frequency of these cleanings depends on the type of cooking done in
the kitchen, as well as how often food is prepared.

When hiring a professional to clean the hotel’s kitchen exhaust system,
it is important to select a vendor that offers top quality service and
adheres to the industry’s strict standards. One trade association
that helps set these standards is the International Kitchen Exhaust Cleaning
Association (IKECA), which works to determine standards for cleaning, inspecting, and maintaining
commercial kitchen exhaust systems with the goal of reducing the number
of commercial kitchen fires that occur each year in the U.S. One of these
standards that hoteliers should pay close attention to is the IKECA ANSI
C10 standard, which is now included as part of the International Fire
Code to ensure that vendors use the proper methods for inspecting and
cleaning kitchen exhaust systems.

To ensure that kitchen exhaust cleaning companies have high standards that
are in line with the International Fire Code and other standards required
to pass health inspections, hotel kitchen managers should personally familiarize
themselves with IKECA and local jurisdiction standards so they know what
to look for when choosing a vendor. It may be tempting to select an inexpensive
vendor to keep costs down. However, hotels should look closely at vendors
that are able to offer kitchen exhaust system cleaning services at a cost
significantly below competitors to ensure that they are still adhering
to IKECA and industry standards. Choosing a lower quality vendor whose
service does not meet industry standards will ultimately mean incurring
greater long-term expenses.

Failing to comply with kitchen exhaust cleaning industry standards can
have serious ramifications for a hotel kitchen. These standards are required
for a kitchen to pass a health inspection and to stay in compliance with
local codes. Not meeting standards will be a code violation and can result
in a number of fines. A kitchen exhaust system that has not been cleaned
properly also puts the hotel kitchen and staff at a greater risk for damaging
grease fires. If a fire occurs, hotels may be forced to make expensive
repairs to the kitchen, and will also lose out on revenue because the
kitchen, and potentially the entire hotel, will need to shut down temporarily
to repair the damage.

Though it is important that hotel kitchen staff clean the kitchen on a
daily basis themselves, which may include visible parts of the kitchen
exhaust system, daily cleanings should ultimately supplement professional
cleaning. While a staff member may be able to clean the outside of the
exhaust fan, they will not be able to clean the entire system, which is
required to pass inspection and will significantly reduce the likelihood
of a kitchen grease fire.

In the hospitality industry, providing guests with high-quality service
goes hand-in-hand with cleanliness. Even though most hotel kitchens remain
out of guests’ sight, it is essential that kitchen managers do not
cut corners, but rather, ensure the highest standards for the safety and
success of the hotel.